Unemployment ticks up along with hours worked
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The unemployment rate in Ireland ticked up slightly between April and June as Irish workers put in a combined 1.7 million more hours compared to the same period last year, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.
According to the data, there were 131,200 unemployed people aged 15-74 years during the second quarter of the year, resulting in an unemployment rate of 4.6%, up from 4.4% last year. The youth employment rate — those aged 15 to 24 — stands at 47.7%.
The employment rate for persons aged 15-64 years stood at 74.4% — up 0.2% year-on-year. The employment participation rate during the three-month period was 66.0%.
Statistician with the CSO Colin Hanley said an estimated 571,600, or 20.8%, of those in employment worked part-time, and 24.8% of those in part-time employment were classified as underemployed, which means they would like to work more hours for more pay.
“The lowest employment rate by age was observed in the 15-19 year old cohort at 27.3%,” Mr Hanley said.
The estimated total number of hours worked per week over the last three months increased by 1.7 million hours year-on-year, to 87.3 million hours.
The sectors with the largest fall in employment were wholesale, retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which dropped 7.3% followed by construction, down 6.8%.
The largest increase was in professional, scientific, and technical activities, which rose by 12.7%. This sector also saw the largest increase in hours worked, with one million more hours compared to last year.
Out of all workers aged 15 to 89, the CSO estimated over 2.75 million people in employment — an increase of 71,500 from last year.